Iga Swiatek: Next Polish superstar?
- Thread starter Keizer
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Born_to_slice
Legend
Great player. Her BH reminds me of Seles a little. New hope for the deteriorating WTA.
Rebel-I.N.S
Hall of Fame
Swiatek is excellent to watch.
Her composure is very impressive. I think she’ll clinch it on Sunday.
Her composure is very impressive. I think she’ll clinch it on Sunday.
Bud
Bionic Poster
Way higher ceiling versus Radwanska
Bud
Bionic Poster
It's incredible how she's simply demolished every opponent up to the final. Watching on TV, her shots are extremely deceptive. They don't appear to be anything special but the opponent is not even close to them when she hits a winner.
Keizer
Hall of Fame
I don't find them deceptive at all. She has ATP strokes and by that I mean that she can vary the shape on her strokes on command. She gets great net clearance on shots that are angled to make them viable and can also hit flat laserbeams.
Forehand: Great ATP forehand; sort of reminds me of Edmund's. Quick takeback, a LOT of spin, can flatten it out on demand. Quick takeback means you cannot anticipate where she's going easily and she almost "hides" the takeback when she steps forward with the left foot. She can also change directions at will. As Brad Gilbert would say, she can pay a lot of bills with this shot.
Backhand: Again, she can play this open or closed stance. She can flatten it out and hits a credible DTL BH which means you can't go into cross court rallies with her without worry she could pull the trigger and leave you stranded. She also has a great short crosscourt backhand.
Court Positioning: Aggressive mentality, hugs the baseline, looks to hit early. Again, this makes it difficult to grind against her because you have no time (as poor Halep will no doubt testify).
Volleys: FH volley is ok, BH is not good (almost looks like she has 2 hands on the racket).
Serve: Not particularly good. Looks like Wawrinka's somewhat -- like I've said before, she could take some cues from him.
Honestly, the biggest change between 2019 and this tournament is errors. For how aggressively she plays, her error rate is lower now and you're beginning the see the results.
And yes, definitely a different level of potential from Aga, who was always going to be the underdog against a power hitter redlining on a given day.
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Clay lover
Legend
Her forehand looks SUPER heavy. She's not the stereotypical flat WTA hitter for sure. More like a woman playing a man's game.
Nostradamus
Bionic Poster
Not just polish superstar, she will be the next WTA superstar. Only problem is that she's from poland and nobody cares about athletes from Poland except Poland. even poland don't care that much about their athletes...... LOL. so problem will be getting he big Media exposure world wide. I am afraid she won't get that big time media and big time endorsements that she will be deserving of.
Keizer
Hall of Fame
ATP forehand helps with that. You wonder why more girls haven't adopted one.
tennis4me
Legend
Her net clearance and FH topspin reminds me of Kasatkina's. But, ... I just did a comparison and it looks like Kasat's FH is more of a pure windshield wiper, while Iga's hit through the ball more - thus better penetration. Lovely FH and overall game. Appears to be very smart player also, by the the way she constructed points. Exciting!
Should be a much better final than the men's. Most of the time the men's final will be toweling off and ball bouncing. They play so slow and seldom get violations. Novak 18 bounces before he serves and Nadal still taking over a minute between point. I plan on recording the match and skipping forward 30 seconds, chair umpire should adhere to the rules.
Both the ladies play quickly, much better to watch. Hard to pick a winner, Swiatek made the semi's in doubles.
Both the ladies play quickly, much better to watch. Hard to pick a winner, Swiatek made the semi's in doubles.
guitarra
Professional
Her BH (especially DTL which is not obvious in WTA) is a very good shot too. She's got a good serve too and improved her 2nd delivery a lot. She still needs to work on her volleys and a bit on her movement but Iga's got the complete package to become the future number 1 and multiply slam champion. Here level is already the TOP10 easily. What's interesting she should do well on all surfaces - was the former junior Wimbledon champion and now in the final of RG. She also made R4 at AO and R3 at USO easily and it's only her 2nd full year on WTA tour.
Keizer
Hall of Fame
Excellent analysis. I also had very high hopes for Kasatkina because of all the things she could do with the FH but, as you said, her shots always lacked the bite that you see so clearly with Swiatek’s. Kasatkina also has an ATP forehand, obviously. Honestly, I keep looking for women using an ATP forehand and barely find any. Right now I only see Hercog, Kasatkina, Brady, Podoroska, and Swiatek, off the top of my head
Kenin will be a tough test of her composure. I wouldn’t be surprised if she lost today. But if she keeps her head together, I have no doubt we could see a future where she demolishes players like Halep and Kenin in major finals as ruthlessly as Federer did to Hewitt, who I think of as coming from a similar breed as these players.
tennis4me
Legend
She usually keeps her head down.
Many theories have been said why not many women players hit with more spin. One such theory is less upper body strength. I don't know the real answer. Could be just how they grew up learning and copying. ATP-style FH may help produce such spins, but certainly non-ATP style FH can still hit with spin??
Stosur also hits with a lot of topspin on her FH, but Iga's topspin looks a lot more effortless. More fluid.
tennis_pro
Bionic Poster
radwanska would be winning slams now too, easily
Dolgopolov85
G.O.A.T.
On the evidence of Henin, Stosur, Barty, Jen Brady, even Andreescu to some extent and now Swiatek, it's mostly lazy/"ain't broke then don't fixt it" coaching. They just didn't want to risk teaching them what would at least initially be a more complicated stroke. But the upsides are evident now. Brady too was simply destroying fancied players in her USO draw and pushed Osaka all the way.She usually keeps her head down.
Many theories have been said why not many women players hit with more spin. One such theory is less upper body strength. I don't know the real answer. Could be just how they grew up learning and copying. ATP-style FH may help produce such spins, but certainly non-ATP style FH can still hit with spin??
Stosur also hits with a lot of topspin on her FH, but Iga's topspin looks a lot more effortless. More fluid.
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travlerajm
Talk Tennis Guru
She has GD as her personal TT promoter.
Keizer
Hall of Fame
I completely agree. I personally don't think the spin alone is the game changer. It's just the versatility that this swing affords. Swiatek can loop the ball and clear the high part of the net easily on DTL forehands, for example. She can also flatten it out and take balls coming at different heights better because she needs less time to unwind. The "loopy" Murray/Nadal buggy whip defensive forehand helped her get back into so many points against Kenin today, for example. I have never tested this, of course, but I think that this kind of swing path allows you to "shape" the ball in more ways than the traditional WTA style, which obviously gives the opponent different looks.
Speed wise, we know that given enough setup time, WTA forehands can destroy the ball. Heck, the guys with some of the "flashiest" speed based FH winners on the ATP tour (Giraldo, Soderling, Chardy etc) use the WTA takeback with the racket going behind the back. But someone like Nadal/Federer can just do so many different things to the ball and can do them even when being hurried by their opponents. This is really impactful on the WTA tour (people on that tour don't even know how to play slice...can you imagine someone like Barty being #1 ATP without a legit backhand drive?)
Rebel-I.N.S
Hall of Fame
DSH
Bionic Poster
She is such a cutie.
Yes, Iga.
Great tennis skills, personality and down to earth like her idol.
Keep that path, Iga, and the limits are yours!
Pmasterfunk
Hall of Fame
I agree, coaches working for a paycheck aren't going to suddenly change a player's technique for "long-term results" when they will probably get fired if their player starts doing worse.
zinzan8
Rookie
Iga was very impressive this weekend. Like Rafa, she had the game to defeat a great player even when Kenin played well (Kenin did not play great overall, but even when she made great shots, Iga was able to handle most of them). And, of course, Iga (and Rafa) pushed their opponents into making even more mistakes.
Very impressive. Her ranking prior to RG is baffling.
Very impressive. Her ranking prior to RG is baffling.
Kenin was injured, so it's difficult to know how Swiatek would have fared against the same healthy opponent. I do think Swiatek would have been the better player at this RG regardless, but that's just a guess.
RG was obviously her breakthrough. That it happened so brutally is still surprising, many have a more progressive climb. We have yet to see if that's a one-time miracle, or the first in a string of slam victories. By the way, it will be interesting to see that spin bounce on hotter, drier clay.
RG was obviously her breakthrough. That it happened so brutally is still surprising, many have a more progressive climb. We have yet to see if that's a one-time miracle, or the first in a string of slam victories. By the way, it will be interesting to see that spin bounce on hotter, drier clay.
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asifallasleep
Hall of Fame
She has the entire stroke arsenal with an excellent tennis mind. She knows how to play proper tennis, quite different from all the boring baseline bashers the last two decades. I agree with all your comments. IGA has oodles of natural talent. One thing no one seems to be mentioning is how she consistently hits the ball deep. A deep ball no matter the pace is always far superior to a any ball hit not as deep. Kenin was ripping all her balls, and none of them were deep in the court. You can rip any ball to me as hard as you can and if it's still in front of me, it's no problem getting it back. I tell people this all the time. Dimitrov has a similar problem. His shots are not hit deep enough.
volleyandfun
Hall of Fame
Spot on! Exactly my thinking!
DSH
Bionic Poster
Champions Corner: 'I felt I could do anything' - Swiatek surveys Paris
2020 Roland Garros Champion Iga Swiatek explains how a total team effort and a change in mentality fueled the 19-year-old's historic run to her maiden title.
www.wtatennis.com
DSH
Bionic Poster
For Both Swiatek and Nadal, Staying ‘In the Moment’ at French Open Was Key (Published 2020)
Swiatek sought help specifically to tune away outside pressures. Nadal has spent a long career being realistic about problems. They each rolled through the French Open without losing a set.
Nostradamus
Bionic Poster
guitarra
Professional
When was the last time a player (male or female) won a slam with a Prince racket?
DSH
Bionic Poster
DSH
Bionic Poster
The common mental approach of Iga Swiatek and Rafael Nadal | Tennis News - Times of India » todayssnews
For Iga Swiatek, the new French Open women’s champion, and Rafael Nadal, who added to his legend with a 13th title, there was one thing in common: Their mental approach.A new French Open women’s champion. A legendary French Open men’s champion adding to his trophies. That was the final weekend...
todayssnews.com
Keizer
Hall of Fame
The common mental approach of Iga Swiatek and Rafael Nadal | Tennis News - Times of India » todayssnews
For Iga Swiatek, the new French Open women’s champion, and Rafael Nadal, who added to his legend with a 13th title, there was one thing in common: Their mental approach.A new French Open women’s champion. A legendary French Open men’s champion adding to his trophies. That was the final weekend...
Bit premature lol. Nadal has the greatest mentality in tennis history imo.
DSH
Bionic Poster
Do you think she has the game to win in all surfaces and be the next superstar in women tennis?
DSH
Bionic Poster
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